CGS

Andy Reif, the head of the Championship Gaming Series, has left his post after completing a two-year contract. What does it mean for league?

I’m really not that sure. Reif had some background in sports. He was the chief operating officer of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. It may helped on the formating and planning of the CGS, but when it came to reaching out to gamers, there could have been somethings done better.

Instead, he will be replaced by Dale Hopkins, who is the former chief operating officer of G4 Network. The press release said, Hopkins “will take over Reifâ€™s duties as head of the league.” It may be a good move to get someone who has experience in video games in the charge. I’m hoping that they can maybe change some of the games and cycle through them.

After its second season, the Championship Gaming Series is mixing it up a bit, coming out with a Pro-Am division this summer. Folks who think they can compete with pro players can show the league their stuff.

The CGS wants you

Players have to register, and for the time being, it’s free. The league games are: Counter-Strike: Source, Counter-Strike 1.6 (the man’s game), Team Fortress, Dead or Alive 4 and Forza Motorsports 2. There’s $40,000 in cash prizes so if you think you can hang, you should probably sign up.

Elsewhere, the Dallas Venom are adding two sheeps to the online fodder. Players can compete against the Venom’s Michelle â€œPhoenixâ€ Pleet and Manny â€œMasterâ€ Rodriguez this Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. They’re playing under the handles CGS Phoenix and CGS Master (name speaks for itself). It’s all part of the Play with the Pros program. It’s mildly interesting.

Oh well, all good things must come to an end, and for the San Francisco Optx, their season to them the brink of a Championship Gaming Series Championship. Unfortunately, the team couldn’t pull out the win falling to the Birmingham Salvo — 22-15.

Although the team lost, I consider it a good season. The Optx went further than they did last year. From the score, it looks like the Otpx’s Vanessa Arteaga held her own, but the rest of the team couldn’t make up the gap, losing grand in the respective games.

Folks who still want to watch the championship game can check it out at 10 p.m. Saturday on G4. Or folks who can’t wait, can catch it on the CGS Web site.

With all the E3 news the past few weeks, it’s been hard for me to keep up with the San Francisco Optx. I knew the team with Dublin resident Chad Neil made the North American playoffs.

But what I missed was a interesting turn of events. Here’s the recap: The Optx made the North American playoffs but had their hopes dashed with a loss to the Dallas Venom. But so far, that was the last time they lost as the team — against all odds — found a way to beat the New York 3D for third place in North America.

The team then topped the London Mint to make it as a Wild Card in the World CGS tournament. Now that they were in the big show, the Optx made a whole lot of noise avenging a loss to the Dallas Venom and beating the Berlin Allianz.

This sets up the match this Monday. The Optx will play the Birmingham Salvo for the CGS World Championship and $500,000. The match will be shown at 7 p.m. on DirecTV’s The 101 network. For those with Comcast, you can actually watch the match on G4. Unfortunately, you have to wait until Aug. 2 at 10 p.m.

Folks can cheer on Chad Neil, who goes by the handle Miximup. He and hisForza 2 partner Kevin “Sackamonjaro” Uribe have been instrumental in getting the Optx this far.

It’s a reality show streamed on the Web that takes a group of amateurs and tries to mold them into a professional Counter-Strike team. Along the way Team XFX meets up with the some of the best players in the game, including LA compLexity and Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel.

The show itself is decent. In a way, it shows how e-sports hasn’t quite taken off just yet. Screen names like “Rambo,” “Warden” or “fRod” aren’t well-known. To the average viewer or player for that matter, the amateurs have as much name recognition as the pro gamers they want to become.

But though they may be as anonymous as the folks they’re playing, the difference in skill level is easily apparent. Team XFX got beat down in a rout against comLexity. But over the course of the series, they learn some skills and realities from players connected with the Championship Gaming Series.

What’s interesting is that Rubin doesn’t tackle hard-core strats or delve too deeply in the minutiae of the lingo. It looks at the culture of competitive gaming along the periphery. In a game-show style, they compete in immunity challenges like setting up a rig or taking a test focused on who knows whom.

These are events that examine some of the more accessible parts of the competitive gaming like teamwork and practical skills.

At the end of each episode, one person is voted to compete for his or her spot on the team against a local. If the person wins, the player stays on. If the person loses, the local takes the player’s place.

As with any reality show, there’s some manufactured drama. Teammates are angry with other over some decisions. At other moments, members of Team XFX act like hornball teenagers or slackers who live with their parents.

It’s definitely not the type of stuff that will get you on The Soup with Joel McHale. But then again, maybe it is.

If King of Kong proved anything, itâ€™s that competitive gaming is as old as the industry itself. As long as gamers are out racking up high scores, thereâ€™s always a contest to top the the leaderboard. And when it comes to head-to-head matches, thereâ€™s eventually going to be a tournament to determine the best.

Over the years, the formula for competition has evolved. Top scores at the 7-eleven or beating opponents at the arcade no longer matter. Competitive gaming, or e-sports, has developed into something that resembles mainstream sports.

There are gamers on the Internet that play certain titles for a living. They practice for hours on end. They have playbooks and strategy. They compete for money, win, lose, get frustrated with teammates, argue, retire for a few months and later unretire to take up the mouse and keyboard again.

By far, itâ€™s best, most mature example — well other than Starcraft– is Counter-Strike. The popular mod has become the team sport for gamers.

In Game Boys, the New York Postâ€™s Michael Kane delves into this world and comes up with a fascinating history. Itâ€™s a book about legitimacy and validation of the game and the people who play it.

Kaneâ€™s story starts out with a simple LAN tournament and grows into a layered story of how video games and its players are constantly trying to justify its existence to a larger American audience.

The San Francisco Optx earned a playoff spot (and possibly some G4 TV time) at the Championship Gaming Series by beating the LA Complexity, 22-20. It was a close match with Optx’s Counter-Strike: Source team saving the day by demolishing Complexity 13-5.

The team’s been doing better since that midseason slump, where they lost two matches to Dallas and one to New York. Those are also the top two teams in the league right now.

For the Optx, this is all about positioning. By staying third place, they’ll play against Dallas. If the team drops to fourth, they’ll end up playing the No. 1 team — 3D New York.

Sidenote: I’ve been reading Michael Kane’s Game Boys and I’ve gain a new appreciation for e-sports. If you’re interested in this sort of thing and want to know who some of these players and manager are, pick it up. You can see how the Team 3D and CompLexity rivalry is playing out pre-CGS.

The Championship Gaming Series and G4 Media have struck a deal to broadcast “four 90-minute episodes beginning July 16, including the CGS 2008 North America Finals and the CGS 2008 World Finals,” according to a press release.

Finally, you don’t have to have DirecTV to actually watch some decent professional gaming. Now, folks who have Comcast in the area can tune in and check out the San Francisco Optx and such. (BTW, they lost their recent match to the Dallas Venom.) This is good news all around.

Here are the details:

CGS programming will debut July 16 on G4 with the leagueâ€™s 2008 North America playoffs. The network will air four 90-minute episodes in total: the 2008 North America Final on Wed., July 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT; 2008 World Final Quarterfinals matches on Sat., July 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT; 2008 World Final Semifinals matches on Sat., July 26 at 10 p.m. ET/PT; and the 2008 World Final Championship Match on Saturday, August 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

I had a chance to speak with Andy Reif, CEO and commissioner of the Championship Gaming Series, this week. With the league’s draft and combine coming up at the SXSW festival, he was gearing up for the year 2 of the fledgling e-sport. But he had some time to chat about what’s in store for fans.

First off, the league is pressing reset on the six teams that make up the North American sector. Now nearly everyone has to go back to the combine, show off their skill and get drafted. “They all have to compete again,” Reif says. But this time around, things aren’t so cut and dry. Teams get to have one franchise player who is untouchable along with four other protected players.

So that means, San Francisco Optx get to keep Dead or Alive 4 star Vanessa Arteaga. The world champion Chicago Chimera tagged Jeremy Florence, the top-ranked DOA4 player. In addition, the Los Angeles compLexity keeps Donny Mantaner; the Carolina Core hold on to DOA4 expert Ryan Ward; the New York 3D snag Matt Wood, the FIFA 07 competitor and the Dallas Venom chose to keep Emmanuel Rodriguez, its DOA4 player.

The reshuffling of players may create some drama and new rivalries among teams. I’m sure there’s going to be some tension as old friends will find themselves as rivals. It’s an interesting move when you factor in the new players trying to win spots. The make-up of each franchise can be radically changed this season. I don’t know how the redrafting process will affect the cohesiveness of each team, but we’ll see.

As for the draft, the Dallas Venom, last year’s cellar dweller, gets to pick first.

Fans of the CGS can watch the process live March 7 to 9 by heading to the ScreenBurn Arcade in Austin, Texas.

Want to be like the Chicago Chimera, photographed above by the AP, winners of last year’s CGS? Well, here’s your chance. You just need to be in … Austin. Yes, that is the capital of Texas and home to South By Southwest. The Championship Gaming Series will be holding tryouts March 7 to 9 at the ScreenBurn Arcade. Players will have to be experts in FIFA 08 on PC, Dead or Alive 4, Forza 2 or Counter-Strike: Source.

I just wish they did the American Idol thing and had regional tryouts.

Apparently, CGS says you should register right now. Space is limited and remember folks have to be 18 years or older (sorry Lil’ Poison) the Combine. Register here.